VOLUME 3 SUPPORTING POSITIVE YOUTH OUTCOMES

Beyond the Classroom: Service-Learning in Out-of-School Time Angie started her senior year behind on the service hours her high school required for graduation. She scrambled to find something she could fit in between volleyball, applying to colleges, and hanging out with friends. She signed up to help out with a shelter for homeless families run by the local Catholic Charities office. She thought it would be something easy, like serving meals or playing with the kids.

She was surprised and a little annoyed when, upon her first visit to the shelter, she was not given a task to do but instead had to do some team building and “visioning” with other youth volunteers. She also did not like the “homework” she was given: an inch-thick packet of readings, media clippings, and Web sites on poverty and family homelessness she was to read by the end of the term. But knowing she could count all the time she spent on this extra stuff toward her service requirement, she went along with it.

Angie was eventually assigned some of the hands-on tasks she had expected, such as sorting through donated children’s clothing for usable items and helping school-age homeless children with homework. But each week the program staff also engaged her and fellow youth volunteers in an activity aimed at raising their awareness of the needs of the families they were serving and the reasons for their homelessness. At first it was just discussing several of the readings they were assigned. Later on they were given a chance to interview current and former shelter clients about their lives and take field trips to affiliated agencies working to help homeless families find jobs, housing, and treatment for drug and alcohol addictions. At several points, volunteers were asked to write a reflection about how their volunteer work was going and what they were learning about themselves, their clients, or their society.

Angie was genuinely disappointed when her service project ended in December. She had found new friends among her fellow volunteers, and became e-mail pals with several of the children she worked with. She wrote an article for her school paper on the effects of the economy on vulnerable families and organized a showing of artwork created by the homeless children she worked with at a local gallery.

Writer Julie Wang,

Service-Learning Consultant with

Nicky Martin and Erich Stiefvater,

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory

Editor Nicky Martin

Designers Kevin Jahnsen

Denise Crabtree

Technical Editor Eugenia Cooper Potter

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Angie found her service-learning experience rewarding, eye opening, and inspiring. She continued to volunteer at the shelter during the spring term, and sought out a similar program with which to volunteer when she relocated for college.

Young people like Angie benefit from serving their communities in many ways, as research from the Corporation for National and Community Service and other national youth-serving organizations1 shows. Youth-focused programs also benefit when they go beyond simply offering volunteer projects for youth to engaging them in service-learning.

While service-learning is most often found in schools and colleges, it is not just for academic organizations; it can also enrich out-of-school time and community-based programs.

This issue of Youth Impact will help you add high-quality service-learning to your youth program. It will explore the distinctions between volunteering and service-learning, and outline the key steps to designing and running a successful service-learning project using real-life examples from the field.

Service-Learning Versus Volunteer WorkService-learning combines service objectives with learning objectives to affect both the learner and the agency or community served. It combines volunteer work with opportunities for reflection, self-discovery, and the acquisition and comprehension of values, skills, and content knowledge.

For example, if young people collect trash from a streambed, they are doing volunteer work. If they collect trash from a streambed and then analyze it, write a report about what they found for their science class, and share the report with neighborhood residents, they are doing service-learning. They are providing an important service to the community and, at the same time, learning about water quality and laboratory analysis, developing an understanding of pollution issues, learning to interpret science issues for the public, and practicing communications skills by speaking to residents. They may also reflect on their personal and career interests in science, the environment, and public policy.2

Examples of Typical Volunteer Activities Enhanced With Service-LearningYour program may already engage youth in volunteer activities that lend themselves to service-learning. The key is thinking about and adding a learning component to the activities in an intentional way. Following are examples of student volunteer projects to which service-learning can be added.

Service-learning is not:

• Stand-alonevolunteer activity

• Anadd-ontoanexisting curriculum

• Minimumservicehours to graduate

• Serviceassignedaspunishment

• Onlyforstudents

• Onlyforolderyouth

• One-sided(studentsand communities give and receive)

1 See also “Service as a Developmental Opportunity: Building Connections for Vulnerable Youths,” (2006, National Youth Leadership Council, http://snipurl.com/2eayj/) 2 Example adapted from Learn and Serve America’s National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (www.servicelearning.org)

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Volunteer Project Possible Learning Component(s)

Plant a community garden. Learn about plants, gardening, and landscaping. Get to know community members and learn from them.

Perform a play, read aloud, or sing songs at a nursing home or hospital.

Practice singing, performing, and conversation. Learn about nursing homes, aging, or hospitals. Learn how to relate to new people and make new friends.

Read to or tutor younger students. Enhance the reading skills of younger children and your own. Learn responsibility, patience, and teaching skills.

Hold a toy/food/clothing drive for a shelter or soup kitchen.

Learn about hunger and homelessness. Practice counting and sorting skills.

Adopt a local park or neighborhood and work to keep it clean. If there is a shortage of trash receptacles or services, find out who is in charge and write letters.

Learn about the environmental impact of litter. Learn to do research and practice writing skills. Learn about responsibility and accountability.

Set up a fruit and vegetable stand that serves healthy snacks to children and adults.

Learn about food, nutrition, and entrepreneurship. Practice math, marketing, and business skills.

Sort food at a food pantry or help prepare and serve food at a soup kitchen.

Learn about hunger in your community. Use counting, sorting, measuring, and cooking skills.

Write a cookbook, sell it, and give the proceeds to a local cause.

Learn about healthful cooking and menu planning. Practice marketing and language arts skills.

Why Service-Learning? Outcomes for Youth and CommunitiesService-learning benefits both students and the agencies or communities they serve. Youth gain an opportunity to test, strengthen, and apply their academic studies and skills. They can explore career options, develop collaboration and problem-solving skills, and learn the importance of civic participation. According to a study by the National Youth Leadership Council, youth who participated in service that included a structured reflection of the type found inservice-learningachievedpositivecivicoutcomesinadulthood(Finlay,Flanagan, & Black, 2007).

Forexample,ChelseaMerriman,apsychologymajoratOtterbeinCollege,started volunteering with the elderly and special needs children at the age of 10. Though Chelsea’s first service-learning experience did not occur until her first year of college, she immediately recognized the benefit structured reflection added to her service experience. “The opportunity to reflect in a group setting has helped deepen my commitment to service,” says Chelsea, “When I used to volunteer on my own, I did it because it was fun

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and I wanted to meet other students who were like me, but in a service-learning project the focus is more on understanding social complexities and the impact I am making on the community.” Chelsea is the president of the college’s CardinalCorps, a group of student leaders that focus on community service and civic engagement. In addition to her ongoing service-learning commitments,sheservesasayouthcommissionerforthestateofOhioontheOhioCommunityServiceCouncils.ChelseaislookingforwardtojoiningAmeriCorps after graduation and possibly pursing a graduate degree that would put her in a better position to promote national service programs.

For programs and communities, properly planned and executed service-learning activities provide benefits beyond recruiting more hands to get the work done. These include forming mutually supportive partnerships with schools and other community partners; diversifying their pools of volunteers to include more young people; and forming a connection with youth that will inspire some to continue to come back and volunteer as they grow up.

How To Do ItThe following sections detail a process for working with youth to identify, design, and implement a service-learning project in your out-of-school time or community-based program.

Step 1: Identify a Service-Learning Opportunity

In K–12 and higher education, coming up with service-learning activities is fairly straightforward. Instructors consider the skills, content, and themes they are already teaching and work from there.

Community-based and out-of-school time programs usually do not have the predetermined learning content and goals to use as starting points. This isbothachallengeandanopportunity.Ontheonehand,programsmustgenerate their own learning and service objectives, or partner with a school orcollegetoobtainthem.Ontheotherhand,thisallowstheprogramsmuchmore flexibility and latitude in designing activities.

Unlike a teacher or professor who looks first to her curriculum and then to how it could be reinforced with service in the community, you as a program manager can look first to your agency or community to find a need and then design a service-learning opportunity to address it. You or your youth clients can conduct investigations using neighborhood scans, surveys, media reports, and interviews with community members to find a need to work on. The Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University provides information and sample forms that can help you and your youth conduct this type of community-mapping project. Visit their Web site at www.sesp.northwestern.edu/abcd/ for more details.

Narrowing down to one focus area or need can be a challenge since youth have such varied interests. Facilitate a process wherein all youth feel included in the conversation and decision making. Ask probing questions to gather input about the issues and projects youth want to work on. Even if a youth does not get his first-choice project, he has learned a bit about working in groups and compromising.

Creating Inclusive Service-Learning Opportunities

Youth with special needs can build self-confidence and self-worth by contributing to their community through service-learning. Your organization may already have systems in place for accommodating young people with disabilities, such as access to buildings and other sites or sign language interpreters. But being truly inclusive means creating opportunities for all youth to identify and contribute their skills and talents to your project. The National Service Inclusion Project has created a detailed handbook, Creating an Inclusive Service Environment, which outlines key considerations and legal requirements, and includes a sample self-evaluation checklist, among other tools. Download a free copy at www.serviceandinclusion.org/handbook/.

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Targeting a Community Need

Challenge youth to test their own assumptions about their community’s strengths and challenges. Prompt young people to recognize existing and potential resources rather than emphasizing the community’s problems. For instance, youth living in low-income neighborhoods are often inundated with negative images of their community and are sometimes not exposed to the leaders and organizations that are working to achieve positive change.

Invite a youth leader who is already active in the community to lead the group on a neighborhood tour to observe, interact with residents, and document the assets and areas for improvement. Have youth debrief the experience by documenting their observations in a community asset map.

Partnering for Meaningful Service

Service-learning can build reciprocal relationships between your youth-serving program and a multitude of community organizations. Their interest in and level of collaboration with you will depend on their needs, commitment, and organizational capacity. Some partners may have a great need for service-learnersbutlackthestaffcapacitytotrainandsupervisethem.Otherorganizations may require an extended time commitment or a specific skill set from their volunteers.

For example, you might partner with your local Red Cross as part of a service-learning project focused on disaster relief. Students might learn about the science behind common local disasters, become part of a Community Emergency Response Team, and create emergency kits for distribution to local senior centers. The agency benefits from the extra volunteer support while your program gains access to the expertise of agency staff and a real-world venue for learning.

Partnerships are best developed with an explicit purpose and clearly defined roles and responsibilities to avoid confusion and to benefit all involved. Some questions to ask of a potential community partner include:

• Whatisthepurposeoftherelationship?

• Howdoourinterestsintersect?

• Whatarethebenefitsofpartnershipwewillbothreceive?

• Whatagegroupswouldbemosthelpfulforyouragency?

• Whatratioofadultstoservice-learnersdoyourequire?

• Whattypeoftimecommitmentareyoulookingforfromservice-learners?

• Whatliabilityissuesshouldwebeawareof?

• Doesyourorganizationcovervolunteersunderyourworkerscompensationpolicy?

• Whattypeofexperiencedoesyourstaffhaveworkingwithyouthofthisagegroup?

• Howmuchtimecanyourstaffcommittomeetingwithprogramleaderspriortoandaftertheserviceactivity?

• Howaredecisionsaboutvolunteersandserviceactivitiesmade?

K–12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice

The National Youth Leadership Council andRMCResearchAssociates developed a set of quality service-learning standards and indicators with input from youth, teachers, administrators, youth agencies, policymakers, community members, and other stakeholders. The standards include:

•Meaningful service: Service-learning actively engages participants in meaningful and personally relevant service activities.

•Link to curriculum: Service-learning is intentionally used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and/or content standards.

•Reflection: Service-learning incorporates multiple challenging reflection activities that are ongoing and that prompt deep thinking and analysis about oneself and one’s relationship to society.

•Diversity: Service-learning promotes understanding of diversity and mutual respect among all participants.

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If you and a prospective partner agree you have a good match, formalize the partnership using a collaborative agreement or a memorandum of understanding. These documents allow your two agencies to create a mission and vision statement for the project, draft goals and objectives, and specify timelines and reporting methods. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and working toward the same agreed-upon goals for the project.

Helping Match Service to Participant Developmental Levels

Your out-of-school time or community-based program may serve groups of youth that include a range of ages, grade levels, and developmental stages. As a result, it might be a challenge to create a service-learning experience that is appropriate for all the youth involved. However, many service-learning experiences can engage different age groups.

When organizing activities across age groups, think through and clarify your expectations for each group and the roles they will be able to play. In general, therearetwowaysyoucanapproachthischallenge.Oneoptionistoengagedifferent groups of youth in age- and developmentally appropriate activities that are subprojects to the overall project. You can include opportunities for the different age groups to present what they did and learned to the other groups as part of your summing up or reflection process. A second option is to have youth in all age groups work on the same activities but customize the experience to allow for age-appropriate levels of complexity.

You might also employ a combined approach. For example, a service-learning project addressing the issue of hunger in the community might include several activities organized on behalf of a local food bank. Teen volunteers might collect and analyze demographic information on the food bank’s clients or assistwithadministrativeorrepairworkforthesite.Middleschool–agedyouth could assemble food bags for distribution or staff an outreach table at a food drive. Younger children can create greeting cards and messages to be included with food deliveries for recipients.

Regardless of how you choose to engage youth in different age levels in a project—all working together on the same activities or divided up to work on subtasks—think carefully about the nature of your project, the specific interests of youth in your program, and the capacity of program staff and any partner organizations. Remember that age is not the only factor to consider when gauging the appropriateness of different activities for different groups, and that the quality of the service-learning experience is more important than the number of activities completed.

Honoring Youth Voice in Predesigned Projects

While a youth-driven service-learning project design is ideal, sometimes you will engage youth in “ready-made” experiences. When doing so, be sure to give them background information about the project and an opportunity to ask questions before starting. You can also build in and let them know about points throughout the project where they can have input on the direction and outcomes of the work. Doing so demonstrates to youth that their ideas and inputmatter,evenifmuchoftheprojectispredesigned(Cohen&Lewis,2004).

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•Youth voice: Service-learning provides youth with a strong voice in planning, implementing, and evaluating service-learning experiences with guidance from adults.

•Partnerships: Service-learning partnerships are collaborative, mutually beneficial, and address community needs.

•Progress monitoring: Service-learning engages participants in an ongoing process to assess the quality of implementation and progress toward meeting specified goals, and uses results for improvement and sustainability.

•Duration and intensity: Service-learning has sufficient duration and intensity to address community needs and meet specified outcomes.

Access the complete document at www.nylc.org/standards/.

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Step 2: Work With Youth To Develop a Clear Vision and Plan of Action

After selecting an issue or need to work on, encourage your youth to research their chosen topic through books, newspapers, the Internet, and interviews with community members. You may want to help them along with similar research of your own to deepen group discussions and design related activities. This process of active learning helps youth develop an understanding of complex social problems and draw connections between academic concepts and their daily lives.

After researching the issue or need, help your youth to develop and implement a detailed plan of action to apply what they have learned to benefit the community. This youth-generated service-learning plan will be an important tool to measure project outcomes. The plan should include:

• Resultsofthecommunityscanorresearchfindings that support the need for the planned project or activity

• Theintendedoutcomesoftheprojectoractivity

• Therolesandresponsibilitiesofvariouspartners and participants

• Abudget

• Atransportationplan(ifneeded)

• Anevaluationprotocol

• Atimeline

The plan provides an overview and direction for the project, but can be changed and revised at any time. The process of designing and planning a project is one that will equip youth with skills and experiences they can apply in their classes, work, and personal lives.

Step 3: Support Youth as They Work on the Project

After you help youth select and plan a service-learning project to work on, the role of the project leader switches to guiding, encouraging, and supporting youth in their efforts. Putting youth in the driver’s seat may require a shift in thinking and practice for you and your colleagues. But it’s important for youth to feel true ownership of the service-learning project and process. When given a chance to lead, youth tend to be more emotionally and intellectually vested in the process and the outcomes.

The following table details ways you can include and encourage youth to take the lead in their service-learning project.

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Strategy What Young People Can Do

Engage youth as planners. •Identifycommunityneeds •Determineobjectives •Recruitvolunteers •Developactionplans

Enlist youth as evaluators. •Assessprogrameffectiveness •Surveyservicerecipients

Develop youth advisory councils. •Makedecisions •Addressspecificissues

Tap into youth as resource developers. •Raisemoney •Reviewproposals •Writeandreviewgrants

Adapted from Cohen & Lewis, 2004.

Step 4: Incorporate Guided Reflection

Service-learning is most meaningful and instructive for youth when they have a chance to reflect on what they learn before, during, and after a project. Guided reflection helps youth integrate learning and experience personal growth and awareness.

The most effective reflection activities go beyond reporting and describing actions taken. Reflection activities are most successful if they vary in format. Writtenreflectioncantaketheformofjournalentries,essays,orpoetry.Otherways of reflecting include role playing, photography, drawings, sculptures, collages, and music.

As an example, a project serving elders might invite youth to brainstorm what they know about senior citizens. Project staff can then help the youth explore assumptions they make about senior citizens and think about where these assumptions come from. Staff might then discuss common stereotypes about young people, and ask youth to consider where misconceptions about both younger and older people come from and the harm they can cause.

To help youth reflect on their work throughout the service-learning project, ask prompting questions such as “Why do you think things are that way,” or “Whatotherneedsmightweconsider?”Thistypeofon-the-spotreflectioncan inspire insights or recommendations from youth that can improve their experience and increase the impact of their contribution.

End-of-service reflections help youth compare their initial assumptions and beliefs going in with what they actually observed and experienced. It then allows them to apply these experiences and insights into their studies and worldviews.

The questions3 on the next page can help you design your own reflection activities. You can also download sample activities at www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/yes/tools/reflection%20guide.pdf.

3 Adapted from Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and devel-opment. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Preparing for Logistical Challenges: Transportation and Liability Issues

Some service activities—like research and advocacy—can be done within your regular program schedule and without taking youth off site. However, if you do travel off site, liability becomes an issue.

Established programs usually already have written policies and procedures regarding youth transportation, permissions, and other liability matters. Familiarize yourself with your organization’s policies before launching your project. If off-site service-learning activities are new for your program, consider your project carefully and develop a clear set of rules and expectations to address participant safety.

For instance, youth volunteers restocking pantry shelves at a local food bank might want to listen to their iPod while they work. But wearing headphones would prevent them from hearing instructions or warnings, and hinders any group learning and reflection that may happen spontaneously. Setting guidelines

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What? (Collecting Facts)

• Whatdidyoudo,see,hear,touch,smell?

• Whatdidyouknowgoingintotheserviceexperience?

• Whatassumptionsdidyoumakeaboutwhatyouweregoingtoseeandlearn?

So What? (Interpreting Data)

• Howdidyoufeelbefore,during,andafteryourserviceexperience?

• How,ifatall,doeswhatyoulearnedaffecthowyouperceivetheissue?

• How,ifatall,didreadingsandotherpreparationmaterialshelpyouhaveadeeperunderstandingofwhoyouwereserving?

• When,ifever,haveyouexperiencedorfeltsomethingsimilar?

• Whatdidyoulearnthatyoudidn’tknowbefore?

• Whatdidyoulearnaboutyourselfthroughtheexperience?

• Whatimplicationsdidthisexperiencehaveonthelargercommunity?

Now What? (Evaluation and Formulating Next Steps)

• Whatotherquestionsremainunanswered?

• Whatcouldwehavedonebetterordifferently?

• What,ifanything,areyougoingtododifferentlybecauseofthisexperience?

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regarding the use of electronic devices during the service activity early in the planning stages can keep all participants safer and enhance their experience.

To learn how to reduce and/or manage these and other safety and liability risks to your program, visit the Web site of the Nonprofit Risk ManagementCenteratwww.nonprofitrisk.org.

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Step 5: Measure and Learn From Outcomes

Evaluating the Project

Just as you assess the effectiveness of other program activities, you will want to evaluate your service-learning project. This will help you understand if the project met your goals and expectations as well as satisfying any reporting requirements for funders and other stakeholders. Some programs use pre- and post-service questionnaires focusing on changes in skills, attitudes, and knowledge to measure participant learning outcomes from a service-learning project.Othersuseamoreholisticapproachofreviewingstudent-createdportfolios consisting of journal entries, essays, and other reflection tools. Whicheverofthesetwoapproaches(orcombinationofthem)youselectforyour program, you can use instruments developed by other service-learning organizationsstoredattheNationalService-LearningClearinghouse(www.servicelearning.org).

Participant satisfaction is only one of many outcomes that you might consider measuring. Engaging community partners and youth participants in assessing the impact of their service is just as important as measuring youth learning outcomes. If youth generate a planning document before embarking on their service activity, ask them to refer back to it as a benchmark to measure their achievements. Additionally, youth can take the lead in designing an evaluation instrument or conduct interviews to collect feedback about their performance.

Finally, take time to evaluate the service-learning process as a whole to help you assess your role as a facilitator and generate ideas for overall improvement of projects. This portion of the evaluation process is also conducive to examining the working relationship between your program and partner agencies. If you signed a memorandum of understanding with a community partner, review it together to identify ways in which the partnership worked well and where improvements can be made.

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Celebrating Achievements

Having fun and celebrating successes are critical to effective service-learning. Some youth participants have difficulty with traditional academic settings. During service-learning, they can learn to approach work and life challenges with humor, passion, and joy.

Makereflectionpartofyourcelebrationactivities.Forexample,participantscan read from journals or “open letters” about their service experience or events can feature “best of times/worst of times” components.

Celebrate youth contributions at family and public events, parties to mark progress in your project, or special field trips. Recognition can also come in the form of certificates, thank-you letters, or gifts donated by local businesses. Partnering with local schools, youth participants may be recognized at a school assembly and/or receive extra credit in their courses. In fact, many high schools now require students to perform service to graduate.

SummaryAdding service-learning to the volunteer projects you offer can benefit both young people and your program. For youth, service-learning demonstrates the relevance and impact of their volunteering on their communities, their studies, and themselves. It can improve their self-image and self-esteem; help them develop valuable study, communication, and job skills; and instill an lifelong ethic of service and good citizenship.

For you, service-learning helps keep youth volunteers connected, engaged, and loyal to your program and agency. This, in turn, promotes volunteer retention and positive program outcomes. The “Resources” section that follows offers links to information and organizations that can help you develop and incorporate service-learning.

Further Reading and Fact SheetsBenefits of Community Based Service-Learning www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/cb_facts/benefits_cbosl/

Building Effective Partnerships for Service-Learning www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/cb_facts/build_partners/

Impacts of Service-Learning on Participating K–12 Students www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/k-12_facts/impacts/

ImprovingOutcomesforK–12Service-LearningParticipants www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/k-12_facts/improving_outcomes/

Recognition in Service-Learning www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/he_facts/recognition/

Reflection in K–12 Service-Learning www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/k-12_facts/reflection/

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Risk Management and Liability www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/cb_facts/risk_mgmt/

Service-Learning and Individuals With Disabilities: Selected Resources www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/bibs/cb_bibs/indiv_disab/

Standards and Indicators for Effective Service-Learning Practice www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/k-12_facts/standards/

Youth Voice in Service-Learning www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/cb_facts/youth_voice/

ResourcesGiraffe Heroes Project, www.giraffe.org

Kids Consortium, www.kidsconsortium.org

Learn and Serve America, www.learnandserve.org

Learn and Serve America’s National Service-Learning Clearinghouse www.servicelearning.org

National Center for Learning and Citizenship, www.ecs.org/nclc/

National Service-Learning Partnership, www.service-learningpartnership.org

National Youth Leadership Council, www.nycl.org

Youth Service America, www.ysa.org

Youth Service California, www.yscal.org

BibliographyCohen, A., & Lewis, B. (2004, Spring). Youth voice strategies. The Generator, p. 10. Saint Paul, MN: National Youth Leadership Council. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from www.nylc.org/rc_downloaddetail.cfm?emoid=14:179

Finlay, A.K., Flanagan, C., & Black, S. (2007). Service as a developmental opportunity: Building connections for vulnerable youth. In J.C. Kielsmeier, M. Neal, & N. Schultz (Eds.), Growing to greatness 2007: The state of service learning (pp. 65–76). Saint Paul, MN: National Youth Leadership Council. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from www.nylc.org/rc_downloaddetail.cfm?emoid=14:712

Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Spring, K., Dietz, N., & Grimm, R., Jr. (2007). Leveling the path to participation: Volunteering and civic engagement among youth from disadvantaged circumstances. Washington, DC: Corporation for National and Community Service. Retrieved February 13, 2008, from www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/07_0406_disad_youth.pdf

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